The Fifth Marauder
by Emz Fan
Summary: Alone and worried for her future, Emma Demasi, muggle-born, was as shocked as her family to be accepted by Hogwarts, even more so to be accepted by not only anyone, but the marauders! Along with her year-mates and best friends, how will Emma change the course of the wizarding world completely? JPLE, SB?, RL? ED? Rated T for later.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Emma shivered as she sat on the cold, wet grass of her family home, Demasi estate. She knew she shouldn't be out on the grounds, so late at night, but the knowledge that she was a witch, not only a witch, but a Muggle-born witch, still hadn't hit, and she was waiting for it and knew it wouldn't end well. Her parents had coped with her magical abilities as best as they could, but because of her, until know, unexplained weirdness, the young girl didn't have any friends and was constantly bullied by those around her. She couldn't even walk down the street without being verbally assaulted by her classmates and neighbours her age.

She was attending Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry the very next day and was eager to learn magic at its finest, and Emma was pumped, but not entirely excited. She was upset she had to leave her parents and sister, her parents who loved and cherished her through everything, who stuck by her like a stick in the mud. Mr and Mrs Demasi didn't know what to expect from Emma's magical abilities, but still supported her whole-heartedly, secretly hoping their daughter would finally make good friends.

An owl sounded from the house and not for the first-time Emma was glad she had means of contacting her parents, but mostly her older sister Mina. Mina was, by Emma's standards, the best sister ever, not to mention older sister. She stood up for her no matter what, even when her friends were determined to be cruel. She heard Hoot fly to her shoulder, she could tell her new companion was wondering why her mistress was sitting out in the dark night. Emma stroked Hoot's feathers affectionally, already, Hoot was her best friend.

The girls in Emma's grade never liked her, and the boys often picked on her for tiny things, things they would never pick on others for. Having no friends, Emma spent a lot of time reading, and now that she had a set of new books she needed for school, she did almost nothing else. Potions were her favourite book by far, she couldn't wait to use it, but she also wanted to learn charms. After reading _Hogwarts A History_ , Emma was curious to see which house she would be sorted into. Professor McGonagall, the teacher that had come from Hogwarts to tell her and her parents about the school, told her that she was the Head of Gryffindor house, and the history book told her of the house traits. Emma believed she was suited for Ravenclaw, but Gryffindor would be nice.

She sighed, knowing that she should return to the house soon, but her greatest fear still remained. What if she wasn't accepted in the magical population? The Professor had explained that because she was Muggle-born, she may receive some mixed feelings towards her from other students, but what if they thought she was a, to use the word frequently used against her, a _freak?_ All her life, her classmates and peers had thought her nothing but a freak, and Emma feared nothing would change once she got to Hogwarts. _At least I have Hoot now_ she thought resignedly.

Walking softly and trying not to make much noise, the muggle-born witch opened the door and re-locked it, so her parents wouldn't find out about her late-night excursion, and tip-toed to her room. As she turned on the light, she gasped and nearly fell over, only to see Mina sitting on her bed smirking. Emma heaved a huge sigh of relief, she thought she was done for, for sure!

"Hey, Minnie…" she trailed off, knowing she had a lot of explaining to do.

"Out for a midnight thinking stroll?" To Emma's surprise her sister smiled at her, "Don't worry about it, I know you got a lot on your hands, and in your head, I'm not surprised you need to clear some head space."

"Yeah, I just…" Emma stumbled, unable to get the words out, Mina smiled affectionately and suddenly the words come pouring out. "I'm just gonna miss you so much, Mina! Even with Mum and Dad being, well, themselves, I'm still going to want to come home every day! I've never been to boarding school, what if I hate it? What if I hate the classes and teachers! What if… What is no one even _likes_ me," she whispered the last sentence, terrified her fears would become a reality.

"Come on, Em! How can they not? You're a wonderful girl, anyone would be lucky to be friends with you!" Mina tried comforting her little sister, but Emma could not be assured. She pouted, her face screwing up, which suggested she was about to start crying. Mina softened, Emma rarely cried.

"But what about those kids out there?" she pointed out to the window where there seemed to be a party going on. She had seen the invites to that party, all fancy and colourful, kids everywhere flashing them around in front of her, plainly so she could feel bad. No one had bothered to invite her to a party, even out of guilt, for five years, after Jerimiah Hal's 6th birthday party. His mother made him invite everyone in his class, which meant she got to go too. Jerimiah wasn't too upset over it, Emma had been and still was, quite a cute child. Her thick, long brown hair had been the envy of many students, until the party. She had let accidental magic out when pushed over to get to the cake. The cake had, well… exploded.

"They just don't understand you like I do, Em!" Mina cried out, not quite loud enough to wake up her parents, but she knew they would have to tread carefully if they were to continue the conversation. She continued on with passion, "They don't you like I do! They don't about the time you helped a baby turtle reach the water at the beach or the time you watched a boy drop his ice cream and bought him a new one, or even about how you put money into every charity you see, after the time your own failed!" Emma smiled slightly, it seemed to be working.

"You know what Mins? I reckon you're the best sister out there," she said, happily.

"You reckon?"

"I know."

Emma jumped up suddenly and pounced at her sister, who had to try her hardest not to screech. Before the girls knew it, a silent tickle war had begun. It was very difficult, keeping quiet. The aim of the game was to try and make the other make the loudest noise, and when Mina finally let out a loud shriek of mirth, she leapt across the room and exited, just short of Emma's parents finding them fast asleep with the lights out, and nothing out of the ordinary.

Emma woke up the next morning after having a particularly startling nightmare and immediately went downstairs, drifting tiredly towards the scent of bacon and eggs and only tripping once. Emma was a complete klutz. Mr and Mrs Demasi were already seated at the table, eating and having a quiet chat and Mina was cooking herself and Emma breakfast.

* * *

"Morning Sunshine!" Mina called out to her, passing her a plate of bacon and egg while putting bread in the toaster, "There's toast coming, can't have you going to school on an empty stomach!"

At this Emma's parents, both turned to their youngest daughter with the same look on their faces. After a minute of watching Emma eat her breakfast, her father made the first move.

"So, Em…" he started, but drifted off, not knowing what to say. Emma figured where this conversation was going to take a turn to, and wanted it over and done with.

"Yes Dad?" she asked sweetly, "Did you want to talk to me about something?"

"Yeah, uh…" again, he couldn't work up the courage to say something.

"Are you sure you want to go to that school, honey?" Hope Demasi was not a woman to let anything get in her way, "After all, it is a long way away if you want to come home early you can't. Plus, you can only come home for holidays."

"I know Mum, but don't you think I need a break from the kids out there?" Emma pointed helpfully outside where two of the boys began walking to school. They looked in and sneered at her, giving her point so much more of the upper edge.

"Yeah, I know but…" this time Hope trailed off. She sighed, "Ok honey, but we'll miss you, and we are entirely supportive of your choices no matter what they are."

"Thanks, Mum, thanks, Dad, I love you," she jumped up and hugged them, "I'll see you during the Christmas Holidays."

* * *

The Hogwarts Express was… magical, there were no other words to describe it. Simply magical. Emma slowly walked towards it, unable to believe she was about to go to Hogwarts, a magic school, and finally get away from the kids on her street and at her school.

She pushed her trunk forwards and was about to hop on when she was stopped by two older teenagers, a boy and a girl. The boy had long, slimy blonde hair and the girl was beautiful, but with a crazed, mental look about her. She had long black curly hair and a pale complexion.

"Can I help you?" Emma asked, suddenly nervous. They had the same attitude about them as the kids on her street like they owned the place, and like they were looking at a slug. She had a feeling this would not end well, and before she even made it to school!

"Yes, you can leave, _muggle_ ," the boy spat out the word in disgust. Emma noticed he was wearing green and silver robes which meant, according to Professor McGonagall, they were in Slytherin. She had been told by the Professor that they took blood status extremely seriously, and some may harass other Muggle-borns. "We don't need your kind here; I don't know why you were even let through the barrier."

"Yeah," the girl sneered snobbishly, her beauty enhancing her words dangerously, "Why don't you just walk on through the barrier and behave like the filthy muggle you are?" Emma bit back a cry. Swallowing back her sobs, she took a big step back.

"I belong here as much as you, so, if you'll excuse me I have a train to catch," she said shakily but was interrupted by a want pointed straight to her head.

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." The boy said dangerously but was stopped by a young boy around Emma's age. He had longish black hair and wore plain robes instead of house robes, which meant he too was a first-year like her.

"Come on Lucy, Bella, you don't want to get in trouble the first day back," he said cautiously, stepping in front of Emma, shielding her with his tall frame, "It's really not worth it, you know how many Muggle-borns will be at school, it's something you need to learn to deal with." Emma marvelled at how he managed to not sound both for or against the idea.

"Black, I see you are starting school this year," the boy nicknamed Lucy stated expressionless, "You have a lot to learn." The boy pulled a face. He may have been tall against Emma, but he was still a first-year and the two in front of them towered over them.

"Sirius! I'm so glad you ran into us!" the girl named Bella (or maybe that was just a nickname) exclaimed, "Oh cousin, Slytherin will be proud to have you join us!" So, they were in Slytherin.

"uh huh, now if you'll excuse me, I have a fellow first-year I need to escort to the train," the boy, whom Emma supposed had the name of Sirius Black, said. Without waiting for confirmation, he grabbed her arm gently and dragged her to the train, luggage and all.

Emma felt a little breathless from the interaction, partly because of the shock of being picked on so early and suddenly, and the shock of having someone stand up for her. "Uh… thanks."

"It's fine, now are you ok?" he said, looking at her in his compartment with blue-grey eyes, "I know best that Lucius and Bellatrix can be pretty harmful."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Great actually," she grinned, "Thanks for sticking up for me." The boy looked confused for a second, studying her carefully.

"What, haven't you ever had any friends before or something?" he said, making Emma's breath catch in her throat, "oh, and again, it's fine," he waved off her second thanks. Emma stood there, wishing the ground would swallow her whole. What was she going to say? If this kind boy knew she had no friends, he would desert her for sure.

"Of course I have," Emma wasn't a bad liar, she was a terrible liar.

"Doesn't sound like you've had many good ones," he observed, and the young girl mentally cringed, he was spot on, "So I'm gonna be your friend, whether you like it or not." He grinned down at her, and she grinned back. A thought seemed to strike him, and he immediately put Emma's luggage on the compartment above. He gestured for them to sit down. The train started with a jolt, and the two talked for a while.

"Wait, why are you being so kind to me?" Emma asked suddenly. Realising this was rude, she thought out her words carefully, "Not that I don't appreciate it of course," Sirius's eyes were half confused, half amused, "but your… cousin? Said you were going to be in Slytherin, and I thought Slytherins were against muggle-borns coming to a magical school."

"Oh, that," he waved it off, "I'm not going to Slytherin, no way, I'm going for Gryffindor!" but there was fear in his eyes, well covered, but fear none the less. "What about you?"

"Gryffindor for sure!" she said excitedly, she was about to add that she was super excited for Hogwarts when the compartment door opened. A boy with messy black hair, hazel eyes and big glasses strolled in, being tailed by a nervous looking plump boy with mousy brown hair. Sirius raised an elegant eyebrow at the boy in the lead, and he stumbled slightly.

"Uh, hey? Can I sit here with you guys?" he asked, and Emma nodded and Sirius sat back. "I'm James Potter, and this is Peter Pettigrew, we're both First-years. Who are you?"

"Emma, Emma Demasi," she mumbled, looking down, as did Sirius. Emma wondered whether being a Black was a bad thing.

"Sirius Black," the effect was astounding. James jumped up and Peter flinched. So being a Black _was_ a bad thing. Emma giggled at their reaction.

"A Black? Sitting with a muggle-born?" James said as if he was asking if the sky was pink and the grass was purple, "What are you, a deformed Slytherin?"

"No," Sirius said calmly, he seemed to expect that reaction from everyone, "Actually, I'm not exactly bargaining on myself being Slytherin." James sat down again, looking shocked. He glanced over at Emma, before heaving his trunk up to the compartment and helping Peter with his. Silence followed that, before Peter turned to Emma curiously.

"Are you really a muggle-born?" James rolled his eyes and Sirius watched on, amused. "I mean, of course you are, but what's it like being raised by Muggles?" Emma sighed.

"I guess it's no different to being raised by a witch or wizard, except no magic I guess," she said, "Some of the muggle kids seem to know there's something off about you, though."

"Did they treat you badly?" Sirius asked, "I can beat them up if you want?"

"Nah, they mostly ignored me," this was a half truth, "No need for violence," Emma grinned, glad to have a friend keen on defending her if needed.

"Are muggle children weird?" James asked curiously, gazing at her in fascination.

"No," Emma said, slightly defensively, "My older sister is a muggle, and she's probably the best sister ever."

"I'm an only child, I wouldn't know," James said, and Peter nodded in agreement. Sirius said he was an older brother, he had a younger brother named Regulus, who was the favourite. They talked endlessly, bonding over simple matters. And food.

It started raining outside, and Emma's mind drifted off to a place she had tried to avoid the past month.

 _ **One Month Ago**_

" _I'm going to a boarding school, some place in the Highlands of Scotland," Emma explained, "I'm sorry Jane, I'll be able to visit you on the holidays."_

 _Jane looked at her curiously, "What's the school for? Some girls were saying you were going to a special school," Emma looked sullen, of course there were rumours going around, but no one could know the real reason she was going to Hogwarts. That would be breaking the Statue of Secrecy, she would be put in some sort of wizarding prison for that…_

" _No, it's just a school my parents wanted to send me too, you know… cause of the kids in our school," she finished off lamely, even though that was one of the reasons she was so excited to leave, "I'll really miss you." Emma was hosting this last sleepover with her best friend in the world, Jane, as a goodbye. Jane was upset when she found out about the boarding school, but there was something off with her voice._

" _Wait, so you're not going to a special school for freaks?" Jane sounded genuinely shocked, and hurt flashed in Emma's eyes, "I guess they were wrong." Jane stood up suddenly, "What's the real reason for you leaving, Em? I'm your best friend, you have to tell me."_

" _Why?" Emma was suddenly defensive, even though she didn't want to lose her only friend, "I've already told you the reason, and you never tell_ me _anything to do with yourself." Jane was getting angrier and angrier._

" _You don't think it's been hard, my being around you, let alone friends? They told me I'd be rewarded for sticking around you, learning things about you!" Emma was shocked, she couldn't believe all those years, Jane had been faking their friendship. Her eyes welled up with tears. She had one question._

" _Why?" Jane stopped and looked and at her. For a second, there was a flash of grief in her eyes, but it was immediately wiped from her face and replaced by mercilessness._

" _Because you're a freak," the words rang loudly in her head, like church bells that never stopped clanging._

 _The words never stopped haunting her._

"Emma? Earth to Emma," Sirius was talking to her, but Emma was only just trying to drag her mind away from the door that concealed the most hurtful memories, "Hey, you ok?" Emma's eyes flashed open, completely alert.

"Sorry, I was miles away, what were you saying?" Emma tried to look composed, but she didn't think she convinced anyone.

"I was just saying that I think we should be getting close by now," James said, excited suddenly. This time, Emma's grin was genuine. She noticed they were all fidgety. They turned a corner and suddenly Hogsmeade station was in sight. Emma was confused, she didn't think she had been away for that long.

With another jolt, the train stopped and Emma's new life started.

 **A/N: Hi! So, this is the first chapter of my favourite by far FanFic, so please, let me know your opinion! The next few chapters are pre-written, so expect another in the next 5 or so days from now.**

 **At the start of each chapter (besides this one, of course) I will be writing a short previously statement that just says what happened in the previous chapter.**

 **I'm not going to be one of those authors who beg for reviews and stuff, even though I really would like them, so don't expect me to beg, leave one if you want, it's up to you!**

 **Emz Fan**

 _ **Edit: Emma's last name changed to Demasi (prior to edit it was Cartridge).**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Previously… _"I was just saying that I think we should be getting close by now," James said, excited suddenly. This time, Emma's grin was genuine. She noticed they were all fidgety. They turned a corner and suddenly Hogsmeade station was in sight. Emma was confused, she didn't think she had been away for that long._

 _With another jolt, the train stopped and Emma's new life started._

* * *

"First years come 'ere!" Emma gasped as a giant of a man approached them. She took a small step back, as did the others, "Ay, you lot first years?" James nodded, and the giant man chuckled. "Meh name's Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts."

"Woah, so that's actually like, a thing?" James stepped forward and laughed, which seemed to anger Hagrid.

"James!" Emma hissed, dragging him towards the direction he pointed, "Now is NOT the time. Sorry Sir," she said to the giant man, who smiled at her, his bad mood vanishing, before herding up other first-years being soaked by the rain. Students were scrambling everywhere, trying to find their friends, pets and carriages. After being pushed and pulled by other student's frantic movements, Emma finally made it to the river and gave a gulp. Were they really expected to sail in boats to Hogwarts?

Sirius pushed his way through the crowd and stopped short of her, his hair was clinging to his handsome face. He too seemed shocked that they had to navigate themselves to the castle, in the _rain_. Peter and James appeared then, and the four went down to find a boat. All the boats had at least two people in them, par one, which had a small, scruffy and almost sickly looking boy. James went down to talk to the boy, who said he didn't mind if three of them joined, but a boat only held four children.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Emma contemplated, maybe she should let the boys have this boat, and find another one?

"It's ok, I'll go join another," Sirius looked like he was about to disagree to what she decided, "There's a boat over there, the one with the red-haired girl and the boy."

"No!" James said, far too loudly. The others looked at him funny, "I mean, I know them. That's Lily Evans, she's a Muggle-born as well Emma, but the boy is Severus Snape, Snivellus, more like. I swear, he knows Dark Magic already." Emma looked over.

"What do we do?" Sirius demanded Hagrid was waiting on them. Emma decided that she walked over to the boat and asked the girl, who proved she was Lily Evans if she could join them, and Emma was granted permission. She waved at the boys to show it was fine, and they hopped in their own boat. Hagrid gave a hand signal, and suddenly the boats moved of their own accord. The seas were stormy, but the boats remained at a comfortable angle, determined not to throw off its occupants. Emma turned to the girl and boy.

"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, I'm Emma Demasi," she said. In the Muggle world, she wouldn't have dared introduce herself to any new student, afraid they were too going to become an outcast. Here, she was accepted… mostly.

"I'm Lily Evans, and this is Severus Snape," she pointed to herself, then to him, almost as to clarify. The boy did nothing, he just turned and looked away, as if bored with the conversation. "Sorry about him, Emma, he doesn't normally talk to others much. There was a really rude boy in our compartment earlier, we absolutely hate him." Emma had a bad feeling about this. After all, how did James know Lily and Severus? "What was his name again, Sev?"

"James Potter," he spat, a disgusted look on his face, "What an insufferable, arrogant toerag." Emma's blood ran cold, surely James wasn't that bad?

"That's a good one, Sev!" Lily laughed, and turned to Emma, "Have you met him yet Emma?" Suddenly, she knew what to do. How was she going to keep friends if she didn't willingly stand up for them?

"Yup, he's a really nice person too, one of my best friends," she said calmly as she watched Lily's face go bright red and Snape's face become angry, "You should really try to get to know him."

"Ha, that's a good one," Lily said sarcastically. Seeing she was serious, she spluttered, "You can't possibly be friends with Potter, can you?"

"I can, and if you have a problem with that, you have a problem with me," she said, her temper beginning to heat up. Lily turned away in shock, but Snape looked furious.

"I certainly do," he muttered, just loud enough for Emma and Emma alone to hear. The rest of the boat trip was awkward, but for a magical moment, all hatred was lost when Hogwarts Castle was finally in view. The First Years let out a few ooh's and ah's at the sight, excitement built up in Emma's stomach.

She looked over to the boys' boat and saw Sirius boring holes into what had been the back of her head. He grinned and waved, and she waved back. Sirius's boat was the first to reach the shore, and he jumped out and went over to her boat, which had just bumped into the land. Lily hopped out first and Emma followed, but as she was about to get out she felt a push from behind her and she went headfirst into the mud. She looked up to see Snape grinning broadly and Sirius and James striding over to him, furious looks on their faces. Seeing what was about to become a fight, Emma stood up and ran over to them.

"Sirius! James! Stop!" she cried, pulling Sirius back, and the small scruffy boy did the same with James. "Come on, it's not worth it. Let's just go." Sirius looked over at Emma, who was tugging him to the Great Hall.

"Are you ok?" his concerned eyes looked over her mud-covered arms and clothes, the dirt clogged in her hair.

"Yeah, fine. It could have been an accident, for all I know. I'm completely clumsy! Come on, we'll miss our own Sorting!" Sirius grinned and went to the Great Hall where a stern looking witch was waiting. He went up to the witch, much to Emma's surprise, and asked her a question. The witch strode over to Emma.

"This young man says you fell in the mud," she said, eyeing her, "Tergeo." The mud fell off Emma, leaving her clean. The rain had stopped while they were on the boats so the students looked mostly dry. "Now," she addressed all the First Years, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be Sorted into your houses."

Emma went over to Peter and James, who was talking to the scruffy boy. Emma extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Emma Demasi. Nice to meet you!" she smiled sweetly, and the boy grinned at her.

"Remus Lupin," he introduced himself. But there was something off about his eyes, they shouldn't be _that_ naturally gold. "It's nice to meet you too." As they walked into the Great Hall, more gasps came from the students. The Great Hall was enormous, there were four long tables which Emma presumed were the four houses and there were floating candles above everyone. At the front was the teacher's table with the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, sitting in the middle. In front of the students was a stool with an old hat sitting on it.

"That's the Sorting Hat," James whispered to Emma, "It sits on your head and tells everyone what house you're in. Ridiculous, right?" Emma giggled. It did sound pretty ridiculous.

"Don't go thinking that," Peter warned, "the hat can read your every thought and desire. It's the smartest hat in the universe!" the smirk on James's face was immediately wiped from his face and Emma giggled again. That was before the hat opened its mouth and started _singing_.

" _There was once a time, long ago_

 _When there were only four, did you know?_

 _There was Gryffindor, bravest of them all_

 _Hufflepuff saved them all from a fall_

 _Then there was Ravenclaw, filled with pride_

 _And Slytherin, whom they came alongside._

 _So, which will you be?_

 _Brave?_

 _Smart?_

 _Loyal?_

 _Or Cunning?_

 _That's my job to decide,_

 _So, sit back and enjoy the ride."_

The Great Hall erupted into applause, some older students standing up and whooping. Emma and the boys clapped politely and nervously with the other First Year. And so, the Sorting began. Professor McGonagall had a scroll in front of her, which they assumed was the list of names.

"Abbott, Simon!" a young boy with brown curly hair and big eyes stumbled up to the stool and sat down, the hat too big for his head and sinking below his eyes. The hat almost immediately gave its answer.

"Avery, Jacob," was the first Slytherin for the year. The table on the far left cheered.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the table closest to them on the right roared with approval, clapping and cheering. _If this will happen for everyone, this will be a long night._ Emma thought.

"Beltran, Hayley!" A girl with short, blonde wavy hair stepped up. As she sat on the stool and gazed around at the students through her glasses, she felt Sirius shudder.

"What's wrong?" she whispered to him, the hat was taking its time with the young girl.

"I think I'm next," Sirius said back, just as the hat declared Hayley a Ravenclaw. She squeezed his hand supportively, and he squeezed back firmer than Emma did.

"Sirius Black!" McGonagall said, and Sirius stepped forward. The whole Hall was hushed, the Slytherins murmuring excitedly. _That's sick_ , Emma thought, _he's better than that, right?_ Sirius was trembling as he walked up and sat on the seat. McGonagall numbly dropped the hat on his head, she too, looked like she might be sick. The hat sat there, and sat there, and didn't say a thing. What was going on? Sirius's face had a conflicted expression on it, before finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the hat yelled…

"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius jumped up as McGonagall took the hat off his head. There was no applause, only scared whispers. That was when it happened.

"WHAT!" Bellatrix screeched. She stood up, her hair flying wildly. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, GRYFFINDOR!?"

"MISS BLACK, BACK IN YOUR SEAT!" Professor McGonagall bellowed, and with the flick of her wand, Bellatrix was sitting back on the bench. Averting everyone's eyes, Sirius walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down on the end, staring at the table. Another student went up, a bit shaky after the last Sirius's Sorting. He was declared Ravenclaw.

"Demasi, Emma!" Professor McGonagall said, holding up the Sorting Hat. With a shaky breath, Emma walked up. _This will determine my fate here_ she decided. As she sat down, she looked at the Gryffindor table to see Sirius glancing at her, a hopeful expression on his face. That was the last thing Emma saw before the hat covered her eyes and entered her mind.

" _Hmm,"_ the hat said, " _I see… you've already made friends with Black, eh?"_

"You could say that," Emma replied, though she had a feeling she wasn't actually speaking verbally, more mentally thinking the words.

" _Yes, you're not actually saying a word, Miss Demasi, so you're smart… you could go to Ravenclaw if I were stupid, but I am also smart, so here's my decision…"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat was removed from over Emma's eyes and she opened her eyes to see the Gryffindor table explode with sound, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were also politely clapping. The Slytherins remained silent and Emma saw Bellatrix glaring daggers at her. She hopped off the stool and sat down at her new house table next to Sirius, who hugged her quickly.

"Well done," Sirius mumbled.

"You too," she whispered back. After a few students had their house determined, it was Lily Evans's turn. She sat on the stool, her long red hair neatly behind her, as the hat was placed on her head. After a moment of deliberating, she turned out to be a Gryffindor. Emma groaned and Sirius looked at her strangely. "She's best friends with Snape, and now I have to _live_ with her." Sirius looked horror struck.

"Good luck," he said and watched more nervous first-years go up. One boy, in particular, caught Emma's eye. He had brown hair and a chubby face. He strode up to the stool, flashing McGonagall a smile and sitting on the stool. Almost immediately he was placed in Gryffindor. He sat next to Emma and smiled again.

"Frank Longbottom," he held out his hand for Emma to shake. She smiled and took it.

"Emma Demasi," she said and motioned to Sirius, "This is Sirius Black." Sirius nodded at Frank.

I guess we'll be dorm mates?" Sirius said before they turned to watch Remus being Sorted. The hat decided he was worthy of Gryffindor and Emma and Sirius cheered loudly along with the rest of the house. He sat across the table from her and smiled at her. That was when she realised.

His scars, too-gold eyes and sickly complexion, he was a werewolf. She only knew from the magical creatures book she had read and re-read so many times. The way werewolves were written in books made them out as monsters who deserved to be put down, let alone accepted into one of best schools of magic in all of Britain. She would have to confront him about it, ok, maybe she didn't have to, but she wanted too, to let him know he had a friend. Emma wasn't one to be prejudiced against ones' colour, race or appearance, and this was exactly the same for Remus.

"Emma!" Sirius bumped Emma's arm and pointed to see Peter being Sorted, "Wake up and let's see where Pete goes." Emma prayed for her friend up on the stool. He definitely wasn't a Ravenclaw, and probably not a Slytherin. He looked like one good scare could finish him off, so maybe Gryffindor wasn't the best for him. Hufflepuff was perfect, but if he went there Emma would miss her friend greatly. Peter was a hat stall, it just sat on his head while Peter seemed to be battling it, in his head of course.

Finally, with the whole hall hanging onto the silence like a lifeline, the hat made its decision. "GRYFFINDOR!" the house in question cheered and so did Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff because the Sorting could finally continue. Peter came and sat down with the boys and Emma when James went up for his Sorting. There was no question about it, and the Sorting Hat seemed to agree, he was Gryffindor before the hat was over his eyes. He jumped off the stool and bounded over to his friends. Emma couldn't believe her luck. Her new best friends were _all_ in the same house as her!

They started up a conversation, not caring about the rest of the Sorting. Before long, they were shushed by Lily Evans.

"Ssh! Don't you realise how important the Sorting Ceremony is?" she scolded, "The hat needs to concentrate, oh come on Sev, you can do it!" she silently pleaded with her friend as Snape approached the stool.

"Oh, this will be good," said James, as the hat cried Slytherin, "Snivellus Snape the Slimy Slytherin." Emma giggled while Sirius howled with laughter. McGonagall gave them a stern look as she finished the last few who needed to be Sorted. Once the Sorting was over, Dumbledore gave the word and plates piled with food appeared. Emma and the others put food on their plate and tucked in.

"Is that all your gonna eat?" Sirius frowned at the small amount of food on Emma's plate.

"I don't eat much," she explained, but Sirius was already piling food on her plate. Catching on to Sirius's idea, James joined in as well. Before Emma knew it, she had a literal mountain of food on her plate. "Guys… You don't really expect me to eat all this, do you?"

"No," Sirius laughed, "Don't worry Em, we'll help you!" they laughed and tucked into Emma's plate. Suddenly, a bossy voice came from down the table.

"You not _really_ going to eat all that, are you Emma?" Lily Evans looked disgusted, Remus was quick to defend his new friend.

"No, she's not. That was James and Sirius being annoying." He explained and Emma nodded.

"I would never get through this much," Emma said quietly, worried Lily was going to pick on her. Sensing these feeling, Sirius rushed to her aid.

"All me, and James I guess… Why? Are you feeling hungry?" Sirius grinned as Lily blanched.

"Not in your wildest dreams," she said, and Emma could feel someone's gaze burning holes through her head. She turned to the Slytherin table and regretted it instantly. Both Snape and Bellatrix were glaring daggers at her. Sirius followed her gaze and practically snarled. He looked away.

"I'm in so much trouble," he said quietly, only loud enough for Emma, James, Peter and Remus to hear.

"Why?" Peter asked. Poor, clueless Peter.

"I'm a Gryffindor," he explained, "Since all of my family are blood purists, to be in Gryffindor is a disappointment, an insult to the Black name. I've got a Howler for sure."

"What's a Howler?" Emma asked, confused. The boys all exchanged looks, they had forgotten she was a muggle-born. They explained what a Howler was; how it was a scarlet letter which screamed its words at you, recording the voice of the sender. Emma smiled, trying to comfort Sirius.

"Well, if one comes we'll run out the Great Hall with it and throw it in the Lake!" she said, and from there they formulated a plan.

* * *

"Remus, I can you help me with something?" Emma asked sweetly. They had just gone to their dorms to find their stuff already there, so Emma and the boys came down to the Gryffindor Common Room to talk. Emma decided that a good enough as any opportunity had arisen to talk to Remus, so when he agreed, she dragged him off to where the others couldn't see or hear. "So… Remus." Emma wished she had thought it through.

"Yes?" he raised an eyebrow, but not using the elegant way Sirius was able to achieve.

"Uh… Iknowwhatyouare," the words spewed out before she had a chance to stop them. He froze.

"What did you just say?" Remus began to quiver. Slightly, but enough for Emma's sharp eyes to notice.

"When's the next full moon, Rem?" she asked gently, hoping she didn't scare him. She did.

"H-h-how did y-you find out?" he stuttered, going pale and shaky, "w-w-w-who told y-you?" Emma felt nothing but pity for Remus.

"No one told me, I noticed the symptoms and took an educated guess," she explained, "Golder than natural eyes, scars and bruises, a pale complexion."

"Oh no… Oh no Oh no Oh no," Remus was frantic, "If you, a first-year muggle-born, could guess what I was then I don't think I should be here… No…"

"REMUS Lupin if you leave I will personally drag your back, kicking and screaming," she grinned, "Though I doubt you would kick or scream, so I would have to ask you to for a dramatic performance."

"In fact, I'm quite a good actor… I think…"

"That's the spirit!" Emma watched as Remus let the information sink in. He looked worried.

"What do you think the others will say? Will they ditch me?" he said. Emma was confused, before realising, he thought she was going to tell the others.

"Oh no, Remus, I'm not going to tell the others!" she cried, "No way, this is our secret… unless you want the others to know."

"No!" he said, a bit too loudly to sound normal, there was a hysterical edge to his voice. "Thanks for… everything Em. I've only known you for a few hours, but already you're like my best friend and one of the most amazing people I know." Emma smiled and her eyes misted over for a moment.

Yep, Hogwarts was already her home. Not just because she lived there, but because she belonged.

Emma said goodnight to the others, Sirius pouting when she said she wanted to get to bed so she could wake up bright and early, but she went up to her dorm none the less. She knew she needed to fix things with Lily, but didn't know how. She walked up the stairs and entered the room. She could hear they were talking and having fun but as she entered the room, Emma's dorm mates immediately fell silent.

"Hey guys, having fun?" She tried but feared it wouldn't work. Lily looked indignant, but Mary McDonald smiled at her.

"Yeah, you wanna join us?" Emma smiled, at least she had one friend here. Alice Prewett moved over to give her room and the girls sat back and talked. After that when they were getting ready for bed, Emma pulled Lily over aside.

"Lily, I'm really sorry about the bad start we got off on, can we be friends?" Emma looked at Lily sincerely and watched her melt.

"Oh, Emma! I'm so glad you came forward, I've felt so bad about insulting one of your best friends, then you fell into the mud and I didn't help you up… then dinner! Oh wow, I've made such a bad impression," she fretted while Emma watched on, amused, "I'm so sorry, wait… I haven't answered your question, how silly of me! Yes, of course, we'll be friends, I'm surprised you'll take me! I've been so stu-"

"Lily," Emma stopped her, "Good night." She grinned as Lily went red again and grinned too.

"Night, Em."

 **A/N: Ok, hi guys! I just realised that Bellatrix and Lucius are older than I originally thought, and shouldn't still be in school, so I've changed their ages a teensy bit. Oops! I hope you don't think Emma discovered Remus's secret too early, I just planned for her to recognize the symptoms and signs straight away.**

 **I'm super excited and Happy with this story so far, hopefully, you like it too! Anyway, enjoy the chapter and don't worry, I still have another pre-written chapter for you, and writing as I publish, so enjoy!**

 **Emz Fan**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Previously… _"Lily, I'm really sorry about the bad start we got off on, can we be friends?" Emma looked at Lily sincerely and watched her melt._

" _Oh, Emma! I'm so glad you came forward, I've felt so bad about insulting one of your best friends, then you fell into the mud and I didn't help you up… then dinner! Oh, wow, I've made such a bad impression," she fretted while Emma watched on, amused, "I'm so sorry, wait… I haven't answered your question, how silly of me! Yes, of course, we'll be friends, I'm surprised you'll take me! I've been so stu- "_

" _Lily," Emma stopped her, "Good night." She grinned as Lily went red again and grinned too._

" _Night, Em."_

* * *

"Emma. Emma. Emma," Someone was poking her, hard. The young Gryffindor in question slowly opened her eyes to see Lily staring down at her, grinning. "Wakey Wakey, sleepy head! It's the first day of school!" Lily yelled, pulling the covers off the bed. Emma was glad she was wearing something decent.

"Noo!" Marlene McKinnon yelled as Alice did the same thing to her. Emma groaned this was going to be a long seven years if she was spending them like this every morning. Groaning loudly and audibly, she pulled herself out of bed, but seeing Lily about to get into the shower, grabbed her stuff and got to the best one first, laughing as they raced. The other girls got their stuff ready as Lily and Emma showered, and when they were done they all took turns showering themselves.

Emma grabbed out some hair ties and hair ribbons, she and her Mum bought several of the colours of each house, so no matter which house she got in, there would be hair ribbons to wear. Lily watched Emma jealously, her red, thick hair a mess around her.

"You have the nicest hair I've seen, Em! Oh, and you're _so_ pretty, like a doll almost!" she complained as she got out her hairbrush, Marlene giving Emma a dirty look, "Can I braid it? I'll put the ribbons in too, I promise!" Emma grinned, she didn't know how to braid her own hair, though she could braid others.

"Sure! Don't worry if you pull, I've got a head of steal!" Lily sat up her bed and patted the room below her for Emma to sit. Lily did two Dutch braids in her hair, and in return, Emma did a French braid in Lily's ginger locks. Emma couldn't think of why Lily hated her own hair. Yes, it was red, but it was a pretty, deep red colour, enough to make the whole school jealous. Emma didn't think much of her own hair; it was long and got annoying when she showered.

"Hey Lily, Emma, let's go down to the Common Room and wait for the others," Dorcas Meadowes said. The First-Year Gryffindor girls had 7 members, Lily Evans, Emma, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Mary McDonald, Alice Prewett and Emmeline Vance; according to the Prefect that lead them to the dormitory's, they were the average size for a year level, as the boys had Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Frank Longbottom and Tiberius McLaggen.

"Sure," Lily and Emma followed Dorcas down to the Common Room, they were all wearing their robes. Last night they had found Gryffindor female robes and uniforms, each with a few in different sizes. They each tried them on and moved their own to their trunk. Emma, being the shortest, could only comfortably fit the smallest size. They walked down to see Sirius and Remus in the Common Room, talking. Remus looked up and saw Emma, a grin growing on his face. He waved her over.

"Wait!" Lily said, she grabbed Emma's hand, "Aren't you walking with us?" Emma had no idea what to say, this was a new experience for her. Normally people would fight over who _wouldn't_ have her, not who wanted to have her company.

"Uh… Is it ok if I go with the guys this morning?" she asked meekly. Luckily, Lily seemed to accept this but glared at the boys.

"Bring her back in one piece," she said as James and Peter walked down. She and Dorcas exited through the Portrait Hole and Emma walked over to the boys.

"Morning!" She said brightly, "How did you guys sleep?" Remus and Peter looked incredulously at her, while James and Sirius grinned. "What?"

"Potter and Black decided it would be a good idea to keep us up half the night, then kick up a fuss of getting up in the morning," Remus replied sarcastically, "I swear, if they do it again tonight I'm sleeping in the Common Room." Emma smiled sympathetically.

"See, Sirius? She's mine," Remus grinned and pulled Emma to him, Emma shooting him a confused look. Peter sighed.

"They decided they would fight for 'the girl', who turned out to be you," he explained, and Emma scowled. Her scowl depended on when James and Sirius both tried to grab Emma.

"No fighting over me!" she told them, and half stomped, half walked to the Portrait Hole with Peter. Somehow knowing she wasn't actually angry with them, Remus, Sirius and James followed, pushing and shoving to stand next to Emma and hold her hand. Emma giggled as Sirius bit James in an attempt to put his arm over her shoulder, so Sirius could do it instead.

The portraits kindly guided them to the Great Hall, only one stumble as Emma very nearly plummeted down the stairs when it changed direction. James and Remus grabbed her at the last second, preventing her from falling to her death. They waited for the staircase to change back, but Remus didn't let go of Emma until they were off the stairs altogether. After only 15 minutes, they entered the Great Hall, but the entered the Slytherin door somehow, which meant they had to walk to the other side of the Great Hall to reach the Gryffindor table. The Slytherins glared at the five first years, many of them sneering in disgust at Emma.

"Come one," Sirius said, as he lead them to the Gryffindor table, but Snape stuck his foot out and Emma caught the blow, falling down in front of the whole of Slytherin house. They laughed, snorted and cackled at her, and, for the first time since being at Hogwarts, Emma was reduced to tears. Even the way she was treated in the Muggle world was better than all these people laughing at her. She stood up and probably would have run out of the Great Hall if Remus hadn't have put a protective arm around her, glaring at the Slytherins, as were the others.

"Hey Black!" Lucius Malfoy stood up, "In case you were wondering, Bella, send a little note to your mother on your loyalty preference!" Sirius stepped back so he was standing next to Emma, "Expect a Howler this morning… And probably every morning!" McGonagall came down to yell at Malfoy as they walked down to the Gryffindor table, closely together.

"Are you ok Em?" Sirius asked as they sat down.

"You're asking me?" she replied, shocked, "We better watch out for the Howler so we can chuck it in the lake." They laughed, looks like their plan would need to be completed now. As the mail came in, they saw a single red letter carrying owl soar towards them. James jumped up and grabbed the letter as the others sprung to life. They ran out to the lake, taking turns to handle the burning letter, and, with as much might as possible, threw it in the lake, where the water sizzled. For a minute, the stood and listened to muffled yelling from in the lake (the merpeople would probably get an earache) before returning to each a delicious breakfast.

* * *

Their classes whizzed by so fast Emma was sure she would lose her footing halfway through. She loved learning about magic and knew almost instantly that she belonged to the magical community. During lunch, she checked the notice board and saw that the Gryffindor First-years had their flying lessons that afternoon, instead of Double History of Magic. They had to be brought forward because Madam Hooch was leaving the next day, something about a Great-Niece being born. Emma groaned, she hated heights.

"Flying lessons!" James exclaimed as she told him, "Psh, I don't even need lessons, I'm already a pro!" Emma hated to break the bad news to him, but they would find out eventually. She had read that it was Gryffindors and Slytherins doing flying lessons… together. The teachers clearly weren't thinking right, who in their right mind put a bunch of 11-year-old prejudiced Slytherin kids on dangerous equipment with equally prejudiced (but for different reasons) Gryffindor 11-year-olds? Emma relayed the news to the others, and Sirius let out an audible groan. James, however, didn't let anything dampen his good mood. In fact, he looked brighter.

"What are you so happy about?" Remus asked James and he sat in his chair, grinning foolishly.

"We get to see Snivellus failing to ride a broomstick!" James cackled, and Sirius joined in. Lily, who was sitting a few spaces down, glared at them.

"What's with the rude name for Severus? What did he do to you? You don't know he will make a fool of himself… In fact, I think he will do quite well! He's a half-blood, he must be able to use a broom if some Muggle-borns can! Yeah, that'd be right, he can ride a broom I reckon!" Lily went on and on and James cut her off.

"Let's answer your question, Evans!" he cried loudly and dramatically, "First, Snivellus certainly earned his nickname, we don't invent insulting nicknames for just anyone, Snivelly should feel honoured!" Sensing he was being talked about, Snape turned to glare at James, who blew him a dramatic kiss, "Secondly, what did he do to us? It's more of the fact that he exists… you know? But if we're going to get serious, he pushed Emma into the Black Lake yesterday, and tripped her over this morning." Lily turned around, going red after seeing her friend had been caught.

"Ha, you didn't even get to the point where you know he will make a fool of himself," Sirius grinned and Emma and Remus groaned. Was this going to happen all through Hogwarts? Chatting happily, they ate their lunch and made their way to Flying Lessons.

* * *

"Good afternoon class. Now, let's get this done as quickly as possible, I have more important things to be doing," Madam Hooch was impatient, almost pushing them to learn to fly. "So, everybody stand next to a broom, stick out your hand and say up!" She demonstrated, her broom zooming into her hand.

"I'll never use flying anyway, so why should I learn it?" Emma whispered to Remus, causing Madam Hooch to glare at her. James and Sirius both had their brooms zoom into their hands the second sound came from their lips. All the other brooms, except for a Slytherins, stayed on the ground, unmoving. James and Sirius grinned at one another, proud of their achievement. _I guess James wasn't kidding when I said he was a natural flier,_ Emma thought. Madam Hooch was prompting them to keep trying, and eventually, it was just her and Snape left who didn't have their broom up.

"Ok, Demasi and Snape, just mount the brooms, don't worry about breaking them in," Madam Hooch decided. Emma hesitantly climbed onto her broom and a few students looked indignant. Riding a broom without ever breaking one in is a pretty dangerous thing to do. Luckily rising into the air went without trouble, and soon Emma was cautiously flying laps of the Quidditch oval, which were the instructions given to them. Sirius and James were zooming around the oval, going in crazy criss-cross patterns, annoying Madam Hooch to no end.

"Come on Emma!" Sirius yelled at her, "You're being such a slowpoke, speed up a little!"

"If I go any faster, I'll fall," Emma yelled back, causing several Slytherin students to sneer.

"The lion's scared of a broom?" Snape drawled, "Well this is a sight for sore eyes!" Emma glared in a threatening manner and Snape zoomed off, his broom a little shaky from lack of breaking in. Emma broom seemed to be going fine, it was a smooth ride, despite her clumsiness. Until it happened. Tiberius McLaggen was fooling around with Frank Longbottom, showing off by doing loop-the-loops and flying upside down. He zoomed towards Emma, not seeing her there. She flew to the left and dodged him, but McLaggen was annoyed he had to stop for a girl.

"Move you idiot!" he snarled, pushing her in a threatening way. Unfortunately, they were 200 feet above the ground and she fell, screaming, as she plummeted closer and closer to the ground. Suddenly, she stopped falling. In fact, she was rising, and a pair of strong arms were encased around her.

"Glad you dropped by," Sirius grinned down at her, "You ok?" Emma let out a sigh of relief. Of course, nothing bad would happen to her when she had her friends around her!

"Yeah, thanks for catching me," She steadied herself in front of Sirius while he lead his broom to her abandoned one. She caught it and cautiously climbed into it with the help of Sirius. He flashed her a guilty look.

"I guess I shouldn't have made you speed up," Sirius said, looking down – something Emma was incapable of doing for fear of fainting. Emma was confused until she realised what Sirius meant. He thought his pushing her to go faster caused her to fall! Emma didn't know what to say, luckily for her James zoomed up, his face furious.

"I swear, McLaggen better be ready for a serious beat-down when I see him next, he's dead!" James practically snarled, looking Emma up and down for any sign of injury, "You ok Em?"

"Yeah, I am. Thanks, James, but don't beat up McLaggen over me, please?"

"Woah, wait," Sirius asked confusedly, "Why are we beating up McLaggen again?" James, Peter and Remus (who had just flown over) all looked confused, just as Emma had until James thought out the solution.

"You weren't watching, were you mate?" he asked Sirius hesitantly, Emma making all sorts of hand gestures behind Sirius, trying to tell him to stop talking or someone, probably McLaggen, would get hurt. James ignored and strode through Sirius's confusion. "He got angry with Emma for 'getting in the way' of his stupid flying, and pushed her off her broom." Sirius sat with his mouth wide open, then slowly turned to see McLaggen getting screamed at and taken down to McGonagall. Sirius grinned suddenly. Emma was worried about what was going on in his head.

"Let's have a little talk to McLaggen tonight in our dorm if he isn't expelled," Sirius said, and James and Remus grinned.

"No!" Emma said loudly, a few first years looked at her strangely, but she ignored them, "Come on guys! It's not worth it." Sirius flew so he was next to Emma.

"I know we've only known each other for two days, but I know you well enough to be able to tell that anyone who tries to hurt you should be punished… badly," he told her, throwing an arm around her. Emma squealed and held onto her broom for dear life. Sirius chuckled, "Would I really let you fall?"

* * *

"I know it's annoying, guys, but you have to ignore them," Emma tried consoling Remus and Peter, they had run to her when Sirius and James were being loud and slightly obnoxious, waiting for McLaggen's return. They were jumping on the beds, throwing pillows and sometimes books at the others, trying to vent their impatience.

"Argh, they are so frustrating!" Remus huffed, "Frank Longbottom is hiding in the corner, he's that worried for his life!"

"That's silly, James and Sirius wouldn't hurt any of you, except McLaggen…" Emma reassured them. Tiberius McLaggen was on detention with McGonagall for two months for pushing Emma off her broom at such a height. Peter looked thoughtful, then his face lit up as an idea came to him.

"What if you came up and talked some sense into them, Emma? I'm sure they'll listen to you," he said. Remus looked excited too, but Emma wasn't as sure. Would the two crazy boys listen to her? She was only a first-year girl, what difference could she make.

"It's worth a try, I guess!" They walked up to the dormitory, but Emma stopped the boys at the door. "Wait, can you check to make sure they're… umm… decent please?" Remus and Peter both stifled laughs as they entered the door. There was a lot of yelling and muffled noises, but Remus beckoned Emma inside so she assumed it was safe.

"Emma!" Sirius jumped down, ready to hug her, but she stopped him as quickly as possible.

"ALRIGHT, listen up you two! You're going to stop being crazy and let the others sleep!" Emma demanded as Sirius and James flinched slightly, Longbottom slinking further into his hiding spot. The boys stood in front of her, dumbstruck. Who knew Emma could yell like that? Sirius sat back on his bed automatically, "I know you're waiting for McLaggen to come up, but this really isn't –" She paused, hearing angry stomps coming up the stairs to the door. Emma dived for cover, expecting a teacher to come tearing in, but it was McLaggen who entered the room. Sirius jumped up again from his bed, ready to face him.

"Can you believe McGonagall! 2 months detention and 50 points from Gryffindor all because I pushed some stupid girl out the way…" he stopped as he saw James, Sirius, Remus and Peter's stormy expressions. Emma popped her head up from behind Sirius's bed, her face a mixture of hurt, annoyance and anger. There was also recognition, she couldn't remember how many times she had been called stupid.

"You mean this stupid girl?" she asked coldly, walking out the room and downstairs, placing herself onto the nearest couch. Peter came downstairs after Emma, and they could both hear the other three boys yells coming from the dorm room. Peter put his arm cautiously around Emma, almost as if worried he might break her, and Emma moved closer to him.

"You ok Emma?" he asked. Emma listened to the yells of her best friends defending her and suddenly, a smile blossomed on her face.

"Never better Peter, never better."

* * *

Eventually, Emma went up to her dorm, knowing she had Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions the next day. She went up to find all the others asleep, so she showered quickly and quietly and changed into her pyjama's. After packing her books and parchment for the next day's classes the young Gryffindor moved towards her bed when she heard a sob coming from Lily's bed. In an instant, she was there, soothing the crying redhead.

"Lily, what's wrong?" she asked, rubbing her back. Lily hiccoughed and gestured to an envelope on her bed.

"My sister P-P-Petunia returned the l-letter I sent h-h-h-h-her!" she said. After a moment, Emma calmed her down to stop her stuttering. "Tuney is my older sister, and she was my best friend until I got my H-Hogwarts letter. Sev and I saw an apologetic letter from Professor Dumbledore in her r-room, and found out that she had written to him, asking if she could go to Hogwarts t-too!" Emma gasped, partly because a Muggle had written to Dumbledore of all people, and partly because Snivellus had been to her house countless times!

"It's alright Lily, you know what? I can be your new sister!" Emma said, excited. Two sisters would be amazing, though she would be happy with Mina if Lily wasn't ok with that. Luckily though, Lily saved her the embarrassment of denial by accepted the offer immediately. It seemed Petunia's behaviour was not acceptable to her, either.

"Oh yes! I've always wanted a little sister! Even if it's by a few months…" Emma giggled, of course, Lily knew she was one of the youngest in the year level!

"Sounds like a plan to me!" The girls giggled as Lily got settled into bed and Emma made her way to her own.

"Good night, Little Sister" Lily called over.

"Good night, Big Sister!" was the reply.

"Shut up!" Marlene moaned.

 **A/N: Hi, I'm just wondering if people are actually enjoying this story? I know it only has 3 chapters (so far!) but I kind of hoped to get a few more reviews, or a few more chapters. Oh well!**

 **I'm really enjoying writing it, but going through a tiny (practically minuscule) bit of writer's block. If anyone has any ideas for what could go in chapters and would like me to write it I would gladly do so, and give you credit for the idea. This includes pranks, conversations and scenarios. Pairings and OC's would also be appreciated! (I know it's only the third chapter – I'm getting carried away with this Fanfic! – but I would like to plan some scenes and dialogue for future chapters).**

 **Emz Fan**


	4. Chapter 4

**Tiny A/N!: Thanks to the guest review I received, I was so touched!**

 **Chapter 4**

Previously… _"It's alright Lily, you know what? I can be your new sister!" Emma said, excited. Two sisters would be amazing, though she would be happy with Mina if Lily wasn't ok with that. Luckily though, Lily saved her the embarrassment of denial by accepted the offer immediately. It seemed Petunia's behaviour was not acceptable to her, either._

" _Oh yes! I've always wanted a little sister! Even if it's by a few months…" Emma giggled, of course, Lily knew she was one of the youngest in the year level!_

" _Sounds like a plan to me!" The girls giggled as Lily got settled into bed and Emma made her way to her own._

" _Good night, Little Sister" Lily called over._

" _Good night, Big Sister!" was the reply._

" _Shut up!" Marlene moaned._

* * *

 _Dear Mum and Dad,_

 _Hogwarts is indescribable, but I'm going to try to tell you about it, so here's a word to process, incredimazingly faburrific! Ok, I know, that's TWO words, not one, but that's what it really truly is! You'll be happy to hear that I am enjoying my classes and yes, I am doing the work assigned!_

 _I've only had a few subjects so far, since it is the second day of lessons, but out of the lessons I have done so far (Transfiguration, Charms, Flying Lessons and a bit of Herbology) I would have to say I LOVE LOVE LOVE Charms! It's so fun, and the spells we learn are so handy. In our next lesson, we are learning how to levitate feathers, how cool is that!_

 _Transfiguration is like turning one object into another, even people! Professor McGonagall (you remember her! The teacher who came to talk to us about Hogwarts) teaches that subject, and she said I was good at it, even if not the best in the class. I'm good at Flying; by good meaning I didn't fall off when we flew. Herbology is growing magical plants and learning their properties and uses. How professional does that sound!?_

 _The castle itself is magnificent, the Great Hall (we sit there for meals and it hosts events like feasts and Gobstone Competitions. Gobstones is a game a bit like our marbles, it's hard to explain. Silly how I'm saying our, when I'm actually magical. Anyway, the grounds are ginormous! They stretch out and out, as far as the eye can see! There is a giant of a man named Hagrid who lives in a hut in the grounds, he is the school gamekeeper and 'Keeper of the Keys', whatever that means. In the Great Hall there is an enchanted ceiling that appears as the weather it is outside, so if it is a bright and sunny day, the ceiling is the sky (but with a roof), making everyone feel good!_

 _I have 9 friends! You won't know them, they all (par 1) are magical families. Their names are Sirius Black, Remus Lupin (my best friend), James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, Alice Longbottom, Mary McDonald, Dorcas Meadowes and Lily Evans (my other best friend)! Lily is a muggle-born, like me, so we instantly bonded, and she's like a sister to me. I really hope you get to meet them at some stage._

 _Wow, I really have written a lot! But I have to sign off now, or I'll be late to double Defence Against the Dark Arts! (That subject teaches us how to do protection and defensive spells). Tell Mina, my bed, my bedroom, the house and of course, yourselves, that I love you and look forward to seeing you on the holidays!_

 _Always with love,_

 _Emma_

* * *

 _Dear my dearest Mina,_

 _MIINNAAA! Hey! Hogwarts is so super-duper extremely so super amazing! You wouldn't believe how crazily cool this place is, it's even more amazing than in a movie, because it's real!_

 _Would you believe it, I have friends! No, not friends, best friends! Four of them are boys, they are the closest friends I have. They always have my back, and I have theirs which I found out when one of the Slytherin boys tripped me over in front of the whole school. Don't panic, I wasn't hurt, well… only my pride, but oh well, we Gryffindors can suck it up!_

 _Oh yeah! I forgot, I'm in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! I forgot to write it in Mum and Dad's letter, could you pretty please with a cherry on top tell them for me? Thanks, you're the best!_

 _You would not believe how much stuff wizards have never heard of, like television! Imagine it, never seeing the black and white figures, moving around the screen, they haven't even heard of a rubber duck! Oh, and wizard portraits move around! The picture isn't still, like in our pictures. They are similar to T.V, but the people or animals in it do whatever they please. Cool, huh!_

 _I really must go now, I'm going to be late for my next class! Give my love to my bed, my bedroom, the house, our parents and, of course, yourself!_

 _With love, always,_

 _Emma_

* * *

"Welcome to your first of many Defence Against the Arts lessons, First-Years. My name is Professor Valmet, and I'll be your teacher for this year, after which I'm retiring, Thank Merlin," the last part he whispered. The Defence Professor spoke to them as if they were four-year old's, learning to write their own name. Sirius was quick to vocalise the thought, and lost five points for being 'too loud and vocal of ones' insecurities'. Emma, who was sitting next to Peter, muffled her laugh to the point she was practically choking. James and Sirius were doing the same. Lily shot a reproving look to Emma, who shrugged her shoulders.

"Now, all I'm asking for you to do it take the following notes. Emma, along with the whole class, pulled out parchment and dipped her quill in ink, to discover the whole two lessons were simply note taking. Pretty soon the only two people taking notes were Remus and Lily, their quills furiously scribbling down the words he was saying.

Emma turned to Peter. She didn't know much about him, so she figured a little chat wouldn't hurt.

"Hey Pete," she whispered to him. He turned, startled, and whispered back.

"What's up?"

"You wanna talk?" Emma wondered what they could possibly talk about.

"Sure, wait… about what?" he asked, sceptical. Emma glanced around the room to make sure the teacher didn't notice them, or no students were glaring at them for talking, but it seemed everyone else had caught on to the same idea Emma had and they were all talking too.

"I don't know, anything! What's your home life like?" Emma decided, then stopped. That, was a bad idea on her part, what if he saw through her lies and found out about her home life?

"Fine, I had a few muggle friends before I came, I'm a pure-blood, but didn't really know any other wizards or witches. What about you?" he asked the dreaded question. Peter smiled at her as though she wasn't dying inside. He wasn't to know though.

"Oh, fine! I went to Muggle school, really fascinating! Muggle people are kinda ordinary, but I guess that's my opinion," she had done it, made it through the first round of, let's uncover all Emma's secrets. It was her idea, she supposed. "What's one thing you want people to know about you, something they don't notice?"

Peter looked thoughtful for a second, then spoke, "I don't think people see the real me much, only you and the other guys," he explained, "I'm actually really insightful, I can often tell when someone is lying, or they aren't telling the whole truth. It sounds a bit creepy, but a lot of quiet people can do the same," he added, slightly defensively. Emma's head spun, her heart pounded. Had he seen through the truth? Peter said nothing more after that, just smiled if they met eye contact. The lesson droned on until finally, the bells sounded, and the First-Years were given their freedom back.

Even though the talk didn't go as well as Emma hoped, she got to know Peter's soft side a bit, and was glad they were friends.

* * *

After lunch the First-Year Gryffindors and, unfortunately, Slytherins, made their way to the Potions corridor, where a hugely fat, bald old man stood. The buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst over his pot-belly. He grinned suddenly as he saw the last of his students coming.

"Hello class! I'm Professor Slughorn, and I will be your Potions Professor for this year, and many more to come I hope!" he boomed merrily, "If I could have you sitting at tables of four please, then we can get started!" Emma groaned, realising there wasn't going to be room for her at the table. She turned to the others.

"I'll sit with Lily," she whispered, hoping desperately that there would be room. The others nodded but didn't look happy about the new arrangement. Emma speed walked over to Lily and tapped her on the shoulder. Lily turned, startled slightly, but saw it was Emma and grinned.

"Hey Em, are you gonna sit with us?" she asked, almost as if Lily had read her mind. Emma nodded and grinned as they walked inside. She gave no thought to who 'us' was, until Snape sat on the other side of Lily, his expression sour. _Great,_ Emma thought, _Now I have to listen to an entire lesson of complaining with Snivellus!_ Emma turned to see her friend's death glaring Snape, and Snape death glaring them back. Emma sunk down into her chair slightly, this was going to be a long, _long_ lesson.

Slughorn started by explaining the potion they would be brewing a simple cure for boils potion. He listed the ingredients on the board, with the instructions, and told them to hop to it. Emma and many others stared incredulously when he announced he would wait until after the potions were done would he tell them the theory to the subject.

Snape and Lily began straight away, going to the store cupboards to get ingredients. On his way to the cupboard Snape knocked his shoulders into Emma, but she ignored him, which was her plan for the entire lesson. She got up to get her ingredients, and the struggle began to brew a potion.

Within 10 minutes, Emma decided she was a terrible Potioneer. She made so many mistakes, by the end of one lesson her supposed to be extremely pale pink was a dark red, almost black. It bubbled and Snape hissed. Every time Lily got up to get something, Snape would throw insults at her, prodding her temper to get a reaction, but Emma resisted, but he was probably the reason why she was making so many mistakes. He was pressuring her not to mess up and make the room explode.

The boys kept glancing over at her, to check if she was okay, and surprisingly she was, although they could see her potion wasn't. Remus grimaced, his potion wasn't the best either, looks like the pair weren't too good at Potions.

Towards the end of the lesson Lily got up to get more ingredients, Snape moved over to Emma. He grinned when he saw the messed up potion.

"Looks like you Gryffindors are as dumb as you are annoying," he sneered. Emma's hand shook from restraint as she added Lacewing flies into her potion. Suddenly, Snape gasped, "Stupid girl! You were supposed to add cockroach eyes!" the cauldron melted, and the goo inside expanded, covering Emma and Snape in the foul substance. Snape yelled and Emma fell back as Slughorn rushed over.

"Quick! Someone take these two to the Hospital wing," he demanded as he vanished the liquid. Remus jumped up and grabbed Emma, who was coughing and moaning as her body was covered in boils, and Lily grabbed Snape. James, Sirius and Peter glared at Snape as he was dragged past. They had seen what happened.

Remus carried Emma to the Hospital Wing, his eyes full of concern. No one asked Remus how he knew the way, Lily just dragged Snape there, as gentle as possible, while Snape cursed Emma the whole way. They burst through the door as the matron looked up, her face going from shocked to determined.

"Bring them here, please," she said, gesturing to two beds on either side of her, "First-Year potion class accident?" Remus nodded while Snape continued to curse at Emma. Emma whimpered, when they were better Snape was going to kill her. Remus bent down and saw her arms covered in boils.

"How long will it take for the boils to go away Madame Pomphrey?" he asked. Emma took note of her name, she may need it in the future.

"Once I apply the cream and give them a dose of the correctly made potion, it should take around 30 seconds," she explained, and Emma, Snape, Lily and Remus exhaled in relief.

"You're lucky there's no lasting damage, Demasi," Snape muttered, and Remus shot a threatening look to him.

"Maybe if you hadn't been shooting insults at her whenever Lily got up to get something, Emma may have been able to concentrate." Snape blanched as Lily was quick to catch on.

"You did _what_!?" Lily said, in almost disbelief, "Sev, why would you _do_ that!?"

"That's right," Remus said, "We were watching and listening, and I don't think Sirius and James are too happy with you," Emma grinned, and the conversation ended as Madame Pomphrey came over to them, cream and potions in her hands. She worked her magic and suddenly, Emma and Snape were lacking the boils that had previously covered their bodies. Emma leapt up, ready to go, and Snape stood up slowly, checking for left over boils. Once he saw there were none, he went with Lily down to the Great Hall, where recreational activities were being hosted.

Remus and Emma went to the Common Room, where the others were waiting for her.

"Here's your stuff," Peter handed Emma and Remus their bags, which they had left in the room and forgotten in their hurry to the Hospital Wing.

"Are you ok?" Sirius asked Emma, who laughed.

"Is this becoming a habit of mine? Walking into dangerous occurrences and being the only one that got hurt?" Remus shook his head.

"Snape got hurt too."

"The only one who _matters_ , Remus," James answered for Emma. Still, Emma wasn't as keen to go to another Potions lesson, and was glad the next two days were a weekend. "By the way, Slughorn set an essay for homework, but he said you, Emma, Evans and Snivellus didn't have to do it, since you weren't there to hear the end." Emma and Remus grinned, now they could watch James, Sirius and Peter suffer over writing an essay.

"Don't look at us like that, we still have to answer those questions for Defence," Sirius said, annoyed that he had more homework that Emma.

"Wait, I just had the best idea," James said, his face lighting up in enthusiasm, "Snivellus hasn't been nice to dear Emma here lately," Emma went to protest that it didn't matter, she could handle bullies, but Sirius gleefully put his hand over her mouth, "As I was saying… Snivellus is being a brat to Emma, so how about we give him a little surprise, in the form of a prank?" Sirius's eyes bulged.

"Seriously!? YES!" he yelled, many seniors glared at them from their work, "This will be the best! Wait… do you have any idea what we can do?"

"I have an idea," Emma said mischievously.

* * *

"Who knew our Emma could be so cunning?" James wondered aloud after they had pulled the prank on Snape, in front of half the school and the teachers. They had gotten in huge trouble by Professor McGonagall, though Dumbledore had a glint in his eyes as though we had mildly amused him. They had a weeks' worth of detention and 5 house points taken off each of them.

"Yeah? Lucky for you, you have the next 7 years to get to know me better!" she smiled, the first true smile since she came to Hogwarts. Unknowingly to anyone, Peter took note of that, she seemed happier to be at Hogwarts than at home. Though if he was honest, most kids felt like that.

It was late, so the young first years made their way up to their dormitory's, Emma saying goodnight to her friends. She walked up to her room to find Lily waiting for her. She gulped.

"What were you thinking?" Lily asked quietly, "Why did you do that to Sev?"

"I wasn't thinking, I was getting revenge," Emma grinned at her, but she heard the words, 'Never in my wildest dreams,' and 'I guess he deserved it though.' Emma ran up to her, hugging her, then went to bed after showering and getting into her snuggly pyjamas. She slept, and dreamt of the day's events, but mostly the prank.

* * *

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter asked them as they began colouring Snape's robes fuchsia._

" _Of course!" James, Sirius and Emma said, while Remus just shrugged his shoulders. Finally, Emma used the charm they had found in a book on Snape's fuchsia robes and they ran, attempting to muffle their giggles. The charm made the robes yell every time someone said a specific thing, but it said it in Snape's voice, which made it look like he was defending his outfit choice._

 _They walked over to their table at Dinner and saw Snape burst angrily through the door, a group of Slytherin's laughing behind him. One third year came up to him._

" _Why are you robes pink?" the young Gryffindors laughed, anticipating the result._

" _IT'S NOT PINK, IT'S FUCHSIA!" Snape appeared to be yelling, but it was his robes. The Great Hall exploded with laughter, many people taking turns to roar at Snape the passcode, once they realised it wasn't him talking. Dumbledore stared straight down at them, and James waved merrily. Dumbledore waved merrily back, but McGonagall stood up and took them to her office, somehow knowing it was them._

 _Yes, they did get in trouble, but the look on Snape's face once he knew it was them was worth it. 'Don't mess with one of our own,' Emma thought._

 **A/N: If you have any good (original) prank ideas for the marauders, and plot ideas, please send them in, my imagination can only reach the corners of my head (I know, my head is round, how does that work?) so I may need a bit of help thinking up pranks to do.**

 **I know there has been nothing but drama lately, and I promise I'll lay down on it a bit, but next chapter is important, so I need to get it right.**

 **I added the talk with Peter because I feel like I neglect him a lot, because I don't like him, and in my brain he has been begging for the readers to get to know him a little better! (his good side, anyway). I will branch out Emma's friendship with Dorcas, Alice and Mary a little more as she gets to know them, as they will play big parts in this story (hopefully). Marlene McKinnon and Emmeline Vance are best friends, in case you were wondering.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **Emz Fan**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Previously… _They walked over to their table at Dinner and saw Snape burst angrily through the door, a group of Slytherins laughing behind him. One third year came up to him._

" _Why are your robes pink?" the young Gryffindors laughed, anticipating the result._

" _IT'S NOT PINK, IT'S FUCHSIA!" Snape appeared to be yelling, but it was his robes. The Great Hall exploded with laughter, many people taking turns to roar at Snape the passcode, once they realised it wasn't him talking. Dumbledore stared straight down at them, and James waved happily. Dumbledore waved happily back, but McGonagall stood up and took them to her office, somehow knowing it was them._

 _Yes, they did get in trouble, but the look on Snape's face once he knew it was them was worth it. 'Don't mess with one of our own,' Emma thought._

* * *

Emma was worried, _really_ worried. She looked at the blue, cloudless sky as the full moon shone down mockingly at Emma, almost as if it knew her best friend was to be put through possibly the most pain he would ever experience that night, all because of the fullness of the moon.

Remus had come up to her earlier to hug her and assure his best friend that he would be fine, but they both knew it wouldn't be. Emma knew the teachers knew about Remus and she had a sudden thought. _Wouldn't Hagrid know?_ Suddenly Emma wanted to talk to the big man, especially when she learnt he enjoyed talking to students. She checked to see if her friends noticed her and after seeing they were busy, Emma walked out the Common Room and made her way out to Hagrid's Hut.

"Hello there, young lass!" He boomed at her when she knocked on his huge door. She smiled in what she hoped was an innocent way as she introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Emma Demasi, it's nice to meet you, sir," she put out her hand politely and he shook it, his giant hand ever so gentle in hers. He invited her in and she went to sit down in one of the chairs when she was knocked over by a giant black dog. It licked and slobbered all over her when Hagrid finally got control over the crazy dog. Emma giggled, the dog was stronger than Hagrid by the looks of it.

"So, wha' bring yer here, young lass?" he asked her, looking down at her.

"Not much, just a visit, you know, getting to know you," Emma smiled at him again. It was true though, she wanted to be friends with the groundskeeper as much as the students.

"Well, isn' that thoughtful of yer," he smiled too, "well I'll get ter know yer too Emma, so how's Hogwarts been for yer so far?"

"Absolutely amazing! It's great, almost like magic!" Emma gushed, then giggled when she realised what she had said, "Well obviously, it's magical, but it's indescribably breathtaking! The grounds and castle are absolutely beautiful, and the lessons are so interesting! I love it here, it's so much better than Muggle school…" She went on and on, describing anything and everything. Hagrid listened patiently, laughing when she said something funny. Suddenly, Emma realised she had talked too much and blushed a bright red.

"Ah, don't worry Emma, we quiet people don't mind the talkative folk," he said wisely. They chatted about a few things when they got to the topic of her friends.

"My best friends are Lily Evans and Remus Lupin," Emma told him, and Hagrid went a shade whiter that he was, and Emma smiled softly, "I know about Remus, Hagrid, so don't worry. I'm the only one that knows though, I guessed."

"Well then… I guess yer are pretty trustworthy now, aren't yer?" Hagrid was hesitant, but sure Emma could be trusted. She wanted to smile, but the worry was tumbling around in her stomach, like a thousand butterflies fighting over a flower. "Don't yer worry yerself now, lass, he'll be alrigh'," Hagrid reassured her. Emma wasn't so sure and she was about to say so when they heard a tapping noise on the window. Emma stood up to see Hoot clutching two letters.

"Hoot!" Emma cried joyously, "Do you have Mina's return letter? And Mum and Dad's?" Hagrid laughed as she opened the window to let Hoot in, holding his where Fang wouldn't get him, and went over to the table. She smiled at Hagrid, not wanting to be impolite, but desperate to read the replies she got. "Thanks for the tea Hagrid, I'm going to go back to the castle." Hagrid grinned at her and motioned for the door.

* * *

 _Dear Emma,_

 _We are so glad you are enjoying your classes, after all, we did send you there to learn magic! We are also happy you have yourself lots of lovely friends, who we would love to meet!_

 _We have a new car! I don't know what type it is, only your father likes those sorts of things, but it is a deep blue and I love it! Mina had begun the driving lessons today, the ones she told you about, we are so proud of her!_

 _But we have some bad news for you, unfortunately. You won't be able to visit for the Christmas Holidays, we are going to Australia a week before to visit Aunt Cassie, and won't be back in time, I'm sorry! We will send your present in advance if your owl Toot could come pick it up for you, just don't open it!_

 _I hope you are enjoying yourself and take care!_

 _Love Mum and Dad_

Emma stared at the letter in her hands as she sat in one of the corners of the Common Room. She felt her eyes water slightly as she read it over once more. How could her parents just leave her at Hogwarts for Christmas? Emma was sure all her friends were going home for the holidays. Her hand shaking, she opened the second letter, which was from Mina.

 _Dearest Em,_

 _If you haven't read Mum and Dad's letter yet, please do, not to cause you distress. Ok! Let the ranting begin._

 _I am disgusted in our parents Em, don't get me wrong. I don't even want to go to Australia! It's hot and brown and bare, even if I see a koala. I mean, can't Aunt Cassie come here to visit you? I guess not, which is incredibly annoying. I'm not sure if I'll go, maybe I can stay home and look after you? I doubt it, but I'll ask our parents, just in case!_

 _I'm really sorry you can't come home Em, I can't imagine how terrible I'd feel if the roles were reversed, but don't worry! I will try to save you from the evil of our parents! (I'm joking, by the way, I'm just really annoyed)_

 _By the way, oh my gosh I'm so happy you have good friends to look after you! (cough cough, I mean, be nice to you) I was over the moon when you told me, hopefully, this will make your Hogwarts years better than at your old school._

 _I have something to confess though… I'm kind of seeing someone? And when I say kind of, I mean, I have a boyfriend. He's really nice! I can't wait for you to meet him._

 _I hope you continue to love Hogwarts as much as you are now, and I look forward to when I see you next!_

 _Your loving sister,_

 _Mina_

Emma let the tears fall down her face. Not because of the letter, but because she missed her family, especially Mina, so much it hurt. She tucked Mina's letter away and dried her eyes as Sirius, James and Peter saw her and came over.

"Hey Em, bad news about Remus's Mother, isn't it? Hey!" Sirius's face was concerned, "You ok?" Emma nodded, smiling as she stood up to greet them.

"Just letters from home, looks like for now I'm staying at Hogwarts for Christmas," she explained slightly downcast, and James looked instantly guilty. "What's up?"

"Mum just sent me a letter, saying she wanted me home for Christmas," he looked away, but Emma smiled.

"That's good, we can't all be moping around, what about you guys?" she gestured to Peter and Sirius.

"There's no way I'm going home unless I have to, even then I'm going reluctantly," Sirius replied, but Peter said he was going home. Emma remembered Remus's parents wanted him home, so it was just her and Sirius for Christmas.

Remus. She had forgotten he was waiting in the hospital wing to be escorted down to the Whomping Willow, he had explained it all to her. She just hoped he would be ok.

* * *

"How are you feeling Rem?" Emma had woken extra early to get to the Hospital Wing to get Remus. Luckily, he had recovered quickly overnight, so he was ready for class. He stood up slowly, not quite painfully, but like his muscles hurt, a lot. "You ready for Double Charms?"

"Definitely," Remus smiled at her, but she wasn't so sure he was. After all, he had just suffered a large trauma.

"Ok, are you ready for the others to harass you endlessly about your mother?" Emma remembered the cover story for Remus's departure, he was telling those that asked that his mother was sick, and Dumbledore had given him permission to visit her every so often.

"Not really, but that's why I have you, right?" Remus tried to smile at that, but Emma could tell he was worried.

"Of course," She went to link arms with him when she heard a yell.

"NOT so fast, Mr Lupin, you're staying here until this afternoon," Madame Pomphrey glared at Emma accusingly like it was her fault.

"Please, Madame Pomphrey, I'm fine," Remus pleaded, turning to Emma for support. Emma instantly lead him to his bed. She knew he was strong enough to resist, but he didn't want to hurt Emma.

"No, your not. _You_ ," Madame Pomphrey turned to Emma, who instantly took a step back, "Why are you bothering my patient?"

"I was checking to make sure the Moon wasn't too hard on my best friend," Emma said defiantly. The Matron softened.

"Ok, but head to breakfast now, you don't want to go hungry," she told her, and Emma went quietly, searching the Gryffindor table for her friends. She couldn't find the boys, so she sat with Dorcas and Lily. They turned to smile at her as she sat.

"Hey guys, you don't mind if I sit with you today?" she asked them and was immediately taken in by them. They chatted, laughed, and Emma only felt slightly guilty that Remus was missing out on enjoying himself, though she doubted he wanted to talk about stuff like hair and makeup. Sirius caught Emma's eye and waved her over, Lily saw and shooed her off, a dismissal. Emma silently thanked Lily with a look that said it all and hurried over to the others. Emma had eaten, so she waited for the others to eat and finish their food. Peter scoffed down bacon and eggs pretty quickly, and they chatted for a while until Sirius turned to Emma curiously.

"Do you know when Remus is coming back?" he asked and Emma answered easily, she was getting better at this lie, she and Remus had practised.

"He should be back this afternoon, why?" she shot the question back at him to distract him, just in case he heard some of the lies in her voice.

"Just wondering, I think it's great of Dumbledore to let him see his mother," Sirius smiled then looked up at the Professor in question. Sensing an audience, Dumbledore looked down at them, his eyes twinkling. Sirius and James sent a well-practised (and in sync) wink up at him. He laughed and McGonagall glared down at them, but there wasn't a rule against winking up at the Headmaster so she remained silent.

"Of all the nerve," Emma trailed off, watching the boys laugh, and she smiled with them. It was good to see them happy, even if Sirius was practically the definition of 'bouncing with excitement'. Sirius and James stood up to go to Charms, and Emma and Peter followed. It was strange to not have a fifth member of their exclusive group, and they all felt the heavy absence Remus left them with.

They walked all the way to the Charms corridor. They were late to breakfast, but early to class, and Professor Flitwick had only just arrived. Emma flashed him a smile as they walked in and he looked up, before taking her seat at the front, where Remus normally sat next to her.

"Professor, who's going to be my partner now that Remus is away?" she asked the tiny Professor. Professor Flitwick was a tiny little wizard that got very excitable at the thought of his subject, Charms. Other than Professor McGonagall, who introduced her to the wizarding world, Flitwick was her favourite Professor, teaching her favourite subject.

"Well now, whoever is sitting on their own, we have an odd number of students it seems," he answered, looking up to the sky as if remembering it was a full moon that night. Emma felt a surge of rage suddenly. The mention of Remus and looking up to the sky could mean that anyone could guess what Remus was! She fought the lump of anger pulsing in her throat down. She was being paranoid, no one would guess from that, it meant nothing.

Students filled the classroom slowly, and eventually, everyone had arrived, and Professor Flitwick began the class. The Ravenclaw students leant forward slightly enthusiastically, while the Gryffindors, minus Emma, simply leaned back, ready for the practical lesson promised to them.

"Ok students, normally I teach this a little later, towards Halloween, but since you all practically begged for a challenge, I'll teach it now," Professor Flitwick grinned and the Gryffindors groaned, whereas the Ravenclaws beamed in approval. Emma braced herself for the challenge ahead, her magic core stirring. "Now, groups of two, and the incantation is, 'Win _gar_ dium Levi _o_ sa,' ok? I'll show you." He whipped out his wand and pointed it to an innocent looking feather on his desk. Repeating the incantation, the feather soared into the air, levitating in place.

"Sir?" Emma brought attention to the problem at hand.

"Oh, yes," Flitwick searched the classroom before landing his eyes on McLaggen, "McLaggen, come partner up with Ms Demasi," Emma groaned loudly, which the Professor ignored. McLaggen took an age to walk to the front, which gave Sirius time to tap Emma on the shoulder.

"Hey Em, if he gives you any trouble, give us a shout," he grinned and Emma smiled, but knew she wouldn't do that no matter what. McLaggen deserved a break from Sirius's bad side. The grumpy looking first year sat down in the vacant chair next to Emma and pulled out his wand.

"Let's make this quick," he muttered as a Ravenclaw girl handed out the feathers. They were given one for levitating, and one for backup. McLaggen put the feather in front of him and began repeating the incantation. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather didn't move. Emma grinned and tried on her own feather, which moved and may have lifted half a millimetre before coming to a stop. It was McLaggen's turn to grin.

"Now, I want to hear cooperation coming from the groups!" Flitwick announced, trying to get everyone's moods up, but they were too busy concentrating. Emma turned to see Sirius failing at levitating his feather. He caught her eye and winked.

Emma turned back to the task at hand. McLaggen seemed in deep thought, then spoke.

"What if we changed the pronunciation? Then we could levitate it," he said to himself, then to Emma, who snorted.

"Don't be stupid, it has specific pronunciation for a reason, McLaggen. You'll just cause an explosion or something," She tried to reason with him, but he became deaf to any protests.

"How about, W _ing_ ardium _Le_ viosa," he jabbed his wand towards the feather, which happened to be Emma's, and sure enough an explosion sounded. All four of their feathers burnt to a crisp and McLaggen's face was slightly sooty. Sirius, James and Peter looked at Emma strangely and, sensing their eyes boring holes into the back of her head, she turned to point furiously at McLaggen and her singed feather. They laughed at her and turned to their own feathers. Emma huffed at him and put her hand up.

"Excuse me, Professor, we need new feathers," she said to Professor Flitwick, who sighed after seeing McLaggen's face and crossed the classroom to get more feathers, "I told you so," she muttered to her partner, who blanched.

"Shut up, Demasi," he said angrily. Emma smiled happily and by the end of the lesson, only she, Lily and the Ravenclaw girl who handed out the feathers (she found out her name was Grace Raymond) were the only ones to complete the challenge. Emma smirked at Sirius as he mock-glared her for her achievement.

* * *

"Remus, if you apologise one more time I will tell Madame Pomphrey you've taken ill again," Emma threatened Remus dangerously. After retelling Charms, Remus took the humour of the story as annoyance that McLaggen had blown up a few feathers. Emma was getting impatient.

"You wouldn't, would you?" Remus glanced at her unsurely, as if cautious to anger her.

"Try me," Emma grinned and put a shoulder around Remus's shoulder. They walked to the Great Hall for dinner, Remus having finally been given permission to leave the Hospital Wing. As they walked in Emma removed her arm in search of Sirius, James and Peter but they found her first. Sirius came out of nowhere, first, there was no one, then Sirius launched himself on Remus.

"Oh, my Remy dear, never leave me again!" Sirius cried dramatically. He then saw Remus tired eyes and fragile posture. His face was pale and Emma knew he had a newly healed cut on his arm, covered by his sleeve. "What's wrong my Remy dear?" Emma snorted.

"Didn't sleep much last night," Remus mumbled as James and Peter appeared behind Sirius. They took in his appearance and decided not to hug him.

"Well, it's good to have you back, mate," James clapped him on the back and lead them to the Gryffindor table, "We have tonnes of pranking to do, now you're here!"

 **A/N: I think you can tell I like Hagrid after this chapter, I feel he didn't get as much credit in looking after Harry all through his school years!**

 **Again, if anyone has any prank/plot ideas I will gladly take them, and give you credit at the top!**

 **Also, you're probably wondering why I put Remus's first full moon so early in the year but check the 1971 September Calendar, it says the full moon was the 5** **th** **of September, a Sunday.**

 **I hope I'm not moving things along too fast, I'll try to slow it down and pace it again. I put this so early because I wanted Remus away for it, so McLaggen could sit with Emma and be bad at Charms. But like I said, I'll try slow the story down and just let the Marauders enjoy themselves and soak up each other's awesomeness! (I'm a mean girls fan!)**

 **Emz Fan**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Previously… _They walked to the Great Hall for dinner, Remus having finally been given permission to leave the Hospital Wing. As they walked in Emma removed her arm in search of Sirius, James and Peter but they found her first. Sirius came out of nowhere, first, there was no one, then Sirius launched himself on Remus._

" _Oh, my Remy dear, never leave me again!" Sirius cried dramatically. He then saw Remus tired eyes and fragile posture, "What's wrong my Remy dear?" Emma snorted._

" _Didn't sleep much last night," Remus mumbled as James and Peter appeared behind Sirius._

" _Well, it's good to have you back, mate," James clapped him on the back and lead them to the Gryffindor table, "We have tonnes of pranking to do, now you're here!"_

* * *

"Ok, the letter is… k!" Alice announced. They spun the arrow and it landed on Emma. The first-year girls were playing a game where a letter and topic was chosen, as well as a person, and they had to tell a story about that specific topic without using the letter.

"Easy!" Emma squealed. K was not one of the most commonly used letters. "What's the topic?" Lily thought for a minute.

"Going to the zoo!" she declared. Alice, Mary and Dorcas gave her funny looks, apparently, wizards didn't have zoo's. Luckily, Emma understood at once.

"Ok, so… I went to the zoo today, I saw an elephant, giraffe and koala!" Emma said triumphantly, before she saw Lily giggling, "What?"

"Em, Koala starts with a K, not a C! Your out!" she laughed at her, as did the other girls. Emma smiled sheepishly and spun the arrow, which landed on Dorcas.

"Ok Cass, your letter is O!" Emma said happily, glad she didn't need to keep thinking of sentences, but disappointed she was first out. Before the game, they had spent ages trying to come up with nicknames for each other, Emma was Em, Lily was Lils, Alice was Ally, Dorcas was Cass and Mary was Ree-Ree.

"The theme is the beach!" Mary said excitedly, "Good luck with that one!" the girls giggled while Dorcas sat deep in thought. She twiddled her thumbs and bit her lip while thinking.

"Umm… I saw the beach yesterday, it was shiny and blue!" Dorcas answered, happy she managed it. The girls looked impressed.

"Ok, lets make it harder now! It has to be two sentences," Mary decided. Lily groaned as the arrow landed on her.

"Ok Lils, your letter is Y!" Dorcas declared as Emma tried hard to think of a topic.

"Why me?" Lily said off-handedly. Alice snorted.

"Now is not the time for your twisted humour Lils. What's the topic Emma?" They turned to the young girl in question, who thought long and hard.

"Ok, how about…" Emma was cut off by the door opening, Marlene and Emmeline strode in.

"What are you lot doing?" Marlene asked, slightly jealously. Emma smiled up at her.

"We're playing a letter game, care to join us?" she asked politely, though she hoped the answer would be no.

"Ok, come here Em, we have to play," Marlene beckoned Emmeline over, and Lily thought for a second.

"Emmeline, we need to get you a nickname, Emma is Em because we can't do anything else with her name," she explained.

"Marlene is Marls, so Emmeline should be Mel, or Linney!" Dorcas offered, and Emmeline smiled.

"Perfect, I love both of those," Emmeline said. Then, "Because there's so many of us, why don't we come up with a name for ourselves? You know, so when we talk of all of us we don't just say 'the others' or something." The girls grinned, it was such a good idea, but after 10 minutes of thinking, no one could come up with anything.

"Can we sleep on it? I just thought of Lily's theme!" everyone rolled their eyes but agreed with Emma, they loved the idea of coming up with a name for themselves. "The theme is sleepover!" The girls grinned as Lily blanched, before immediately being sucked back into deep thought. She sat for a few minutes, working out what words she could and couldn't use as the others thought of possible names.

Ok, I'm ready!" Lily brought them back to the game and began, "The sleepover we will have tomorrow will be so much fun! I'm inviting all my friends, and we won't sleep till midnight!"

"Nope!" Alice practically shrieked, "You used the word my! Which has a Y in it! Now you're out too!" Lily groaned and laid back, her face conflicted. Suddenly, she bolted upright.

"Why don't we use the first letter of all our names? So for me, it'll be L, then for Em it's E, and so on!" she exclaimed excitedly. Alice raced to go get a piece of parchment and quill and wrote the seven letters out. There was **E, M, E, A, L, M, D**. Emma didn't think they could make much out of that, but they could try.

"Ok, let's see, how about, **D, E, M, E, L, D, A**?" Alice tried, counting off the letters and seeing she had used them all.

"You want to call our group Demelda?" Marlene asked incredulously, "Hey look, here comes the Demelda's! Wow, I wish I could be part of the Demelda's!" she tried sarcastically. "How about, Maldeem? No, Ladmeem?"

"This is getting silly, we'll just have to think it over," Mary decided, her voice ringing with finality.

* * *

"Emma, dear! We just had an amazing idea!" Sirius's voice rung out for the world to hear. "Oh, that rhymed, ha! Anyway, let's celebrate the second weekend of the year with a prank!" Emma rolled her eyes as Sirius ran up to her. He lifted her up suddenly and was carrying her round the Common Room.

"Sirius! Put me down!" Emma shrieked, terrified. He leapt over James, who was rolling around the floor laughing. Emma yelped.

"Never, my fair maiden!" the oldest Black boy held Emma out of reach from Remus, who had half-heartedly tried to rescue her, "You will forever be in my grasp… AH!" Peter began tickling Sirius to the point where he had to throw Emma into one of the couches. Unfortunately, that couch was already vacated.

"OUCH!" Frank Longbottom cried as Emma landed in his lap, "BLACK!"

"Ooh, sorry Frank!" Emma stood up straight away, rubbing her neck awkwardly, "I swear it was Sirius, I didn't… I wouldn't…" Emma stopped when he started chuckling.

"Believe me, I know. He's shared a dormitory with me for a week and a half now," he grinned suddenly, "But feel free to land on me if you ever need to again." Emma blushed slightly and chuckled, before Remus grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"Pretty boy… Always flirting…" she heard him mutter, "Come on Em, the others want to pull a prank. Not that I want to, of course, they said they needed your charm work." Emma groaned, and when Sirius stepped forward to Emma she squeaked and hid behind Remus. It was easy, the boys were easily taller than her.

"Ok, what do you need me for? Other than trying to kill me," Emma popped her head out from behind Remus and Sirius pouted.

"I was not trying to kill you!" he declared indignantly, "Also, we need you to charm McLaggen and Longbottom's hairbrushes!" Emma tried to keep her face neutral, she was just glad they didn't do it to her.

"Sorry, I don't know that charm," Emma said, slightly disappointed, until Sirius pulled out a book.

"My mum insisted I buy this book, to impress the teachers," it was a complex charms book. James also produced a book, but this one was about pranking. Emma was almost surprised they even owned books, they often didn't even do their homework. "Anyway, it has the spell in it, is looks a bit complicated, nothing our princess can't do!" Emma laughed.

"I'm most certainly not a princess, but pass it here, I'll take a look at it." Emma reached out, but Sirius pulled it back.

"Not here, in our dorm," he winked, grabbing her arm and half pulled, half dragged her to their room, the others following behind shaking their heads and rolling their eyes. Except for James, who ran behind, jumping and twirling through the air, somewhat elegantly.

Once in their dorm, Emma sat on Peter's bed and yanked the book from Sirius's grasp. She opened to the book-marked page and read out the circled charm.

"Pessimum Capillus? What kind of spell is this?" Emma squinted, trying to read the tiny writing underneath. " _If placed on a hairstyling tool (e.g. hairbrush, hair potion) the charm will reflect the victim's hair upon one's soul, the darkest and most feared hairstyle possible._ What even?" Remus snorted.

"They want to make the other boys in our dormitory look ridiculous and embarrassing by giving them a bad hair day," he explained, and Emma laughed.

"Why not?" James grinned and Sirius tackled Emma to the floor in excitement. Emma screamed, loudly, and Remus and Peter pulled Sirius off in amusement. "You really need to stop doing that."

* * *

Emma woke at 6 the next morning, just as the boys had instructed her. She carefully and quietly got dressed, careful to avoid any noises that would wake up her dorm mates. She showered quickly before changing into her robes and making her way to the boy's dorms. The boys had promised to open the door slightly when they were ready, she wasn't ready to walk into the door and see her friends half-dressed any time soon. She crept through the thankfully open door and greeted her friends in whispers.

"It's time," James whispered dramatically, "Oh, and I dare you to do it do Sirius's hair brush too!" Sirius was still waking up. Emma decided it was one of the best ideas she had heard.

"I'll do his first, so he doesn't suspect anything, then I'll do the others in front of him," Emma decided. Remus uncharacteristically giggled. Emma raised an eyebrow.

"You want yours done too?" Remus sobered immediately and grinned.

"Just get it over and done with," he muttered affectionately, ruffling Emma's hair. She had to try very hard not to squeal in annoyance. Emma made do with a glare that made her glad that looks couldn't kill, and an insult to add to the injury.

"You git," she said to him. Then turning to Sirius's hairbrush, a nice black one with gold criss-crosses, she pointed her wand at it and muttered the incantation, "Pessimum Capillus!" the brush glowed bright blue for a second, before returning to normal. James hastily put the brush back as Sirius bleary looked over to them.

"You ready Em?" he asked and got up. Emma smiled innocently at him.

"Yep!" Peter handed her the other two brushes, and she repeated the incantation on them. James and Sirius high fived each other and Remus went to ruffle Emma's hair again but she dodged him.

"Ok, I'm off to shower," Sirius said as Frank and McLaggen awoke at the sound of Sirius's normal loudness. Frank looked over to Emma in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her curiously. Emma flushed and walked to the door.

"Sorry! Just making sure this lot aren't too annoying," she flashed another innocent grin and bolted to the Common Room, where she waited for the lovely sounds of a prank complete.

Sirius's screams where the first to fill her ears, she knew it would be. Frank gave a yell but McLaggen simply gasped. Sirius came running down with hair similar to Snape's, long, straight, black and greasy. His disgusting hair had a low fringe that covered part of his furious expression face as he pounced on Emma.

"How COULD YOU!" he yelled at her. For a minute, Emma lay on the floor stunned, before a choking laugh escaped her traitorous mouth. The laugh turned into an uncontrollable force to be reckoned with, and Sirius stood up, dusted himself off and stared at her incredulously. Emma struggled to get herself up, but eventually she was leaning on Sirius trying to pull herself together.

"Oh, Sirius?" she said timidly as he looked at her, "I would wash my hair, if I were you." Remus and James appeared behind Sirius, cackling themselves silly. Emma thought it was about Sirius when she looked behind them all. McLaggen was stomping down the stairs angrily. His hair was _bright_ , bright blue, and it was long, so long it was below his waist. It curled in ringlets and framed his face, Emma would almost have admired it if the situation hadn't have called for a different reaction. Her face broke out into a grin as she took in her masterpiece.

Frank came behind, his eyes searching the room for her. Emma snorted in amusement, his hair was bright blonde and identical to Marylin Monroe's. Emma wondered how a Pure-blood like Frank would know who Marylin Monroe was. He strode right up to Emma.

"Did you do this?" he demanded, glaring at her. Remus stepped beside Emma, ready to defend her. Emma smiled at Frank.

"Yup, isn't it good!?" she said excitedly. The not normally blonde-haired boy was struck dumb by this reply. James grinned from behind her. "So, uh, why Marylin Monroe?"

"Uh, my mother went through this crazy phase, she fell in love with Muggle Pop Culture. I will never be able to get the images of her out of my head," he explained sheepishly, "Wait, how long will my hair be like this?"

"Only two hours, so it should change back before Transfiguration," Emma grinned as Sirius exhaled in relief. Peter sniggered and Sirius shoved him playfully.

"You know you're not forgiven for this yet?" he said reproachfully. Emma laughed.

* * *

"Ok, your forgiven," Sirius grinned as Emma brought him his breakfast back to the Common Room. The others had laughed loudly when she suggested it, saying he should be punished for being a vain git, but Emma felt slightly guilty still. Sirius had decided to stay in the Common Room rather than face the school in the Great Hall.

"Phew," Emma said thankfully. She was worried she wasn't going to ever be forgiven. Then she realised, within two weeks, she had entered a friendship that will last a life time, a bond that couldn't be replaced. That was what she and her boys were, _her_ boys. "Anyway, I gotta go, Flitwick wants to see me in his office about the charm work, I think McLaggen dobbed."

"Of course, try not to get too many detentions, I might miss your company princess," He winked and Emma rolled her eyes, it seemed the nickname stuck, she would spend eternity arguing with Sirius over it. She looked forward to it.

She walked all the way to Professor Flitwicks office, guided by the portraits, and knocked sharply on the door. He opened it to see an innocent little girl beaming down at him, but he knew better.

"Do come in, Ms Demasi," he gestured to a seat in front of his desk, "Please take a seat. Now," she sat down, "It has come to my attention that you are using charm work to, uh, prank fellow students. Now as much as Professor Dumbledore likes a good joke, I figured I could use your skills for good. How would you like to join charm club?" Emma was dumbstruck, join charm club? But she would love to, she loved charms more than a lot of things in her life.

"Of course!" she practically shrieked in delight.

"Cup of tea?" he offered suddenly, a magical kettle sitting on his desk. Emma snorted. "Hey, all us Heads of Houses have something to offer students, Minerva has a particularly fine assortment of biscuits, but anyway."

"No thank you sir, so when do you meet?" she asked politely, thankful for the invite.

"Tuesday afternoons before dinner," he replied, and Emma looked down.

"I have detention with Professor McGonagall then, sorry," she told him and the tiny wizard, who smiled.

"Of course, Minerva must have seen this coming, oh she's going to… oh, never mind. It's ok Ms Demasi, we also have meetings Thursday nights after dinner, so, should I look forward to seeing you there?"

"Of course, sir!" Emma was ecstatic as she raced out the office, leaving a chuckling Professor Flitwick to make himself a strong cup of tea.

 **A/N: Emmeline's nickname Linney is pronounced Lee-nee.**

 **I'm so sorry this chapter is so short, I kind of ran out of inspiration and kept coming up with ideas for the next chapter, which doesn't really help. So again, sorry! And don't hate too hard, I beg you!**

 **The spell used (pessimum capillus) for Frank and McLaggen's hair is a Latin for 'Worst Hair'. I figured it was suiting.**

 **IMPORTANT A/N: I have the girls coming up with a name because I have a plan for their sixth year with them and our favourite group of marauders! If anyone has any name ideas that would fit them it would be much appreciated! So far, I have the following, please tell me which one you like best! (if you don't like them, you can submit your own!)**

 **1\. GryffinGirls**

 **2\. Golden Girls**

 **3\. Septet Sisters (a group of 7. I know it's musical terms but still!)**

 **4\. Squadron Sisters (a squadron is a powerful unit… seems legit)**

 **5\. Dramatized**

 **There you go! You can choose one or send in your own!**

 **Emz Fan**


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